-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The mysterious visitor stands in a patch of scrubland in Somalia , surrounded by Islamic militants wielding AK-47s . His face is covered by a white-and-red headscarf ; he is slim and seems young . But there is something puzzling about him : His skin is fair , and when he speaks in an audio recording , his English is near perfect and spoken with a North American accent .

The militants -- belonging to Al-Shabaab -- say his name is Abu Abdulla Almuhajir -LRB- the foreigner -RRB- . And they say he is an envoy from the al Qaeda leader , Ayman al Zawahiri , thousands of miles away in Pakistan .

Almuhajir has turned up in the desolate scrubland , they say , to offer al Qaeda 's help with famine relief . Photographs show him at what appears to be an aid camp that Al-Shabaab claims it has set up for victims of the famine . The recording says he is delivering aid that al Qaeda had purportedly collected , including food , clothing and $ 12,000 converted into Somali currency .

A video showing the images and audio recording was posted to Islamist websites last week . U.S. counter-terrorism agencies are still trying to ascertain Almuhajir 's identity and whether he really was an al Qaeda envoy -- about which there is some doubt .

The event , at which a large group of Somalis were shown sitting crossed-legged on the ground , was clearly a propaganda ploy by Al-Shabaab to boost its popularity -- and that of the al Qaeda brand . International aid agencies have sharply criticized the group for banning or obstructing aid in areas in central and southern Somalia worst hit by the famine . The group 's brutal imposition of Taliban-like practices in territory under its control has also alienated many Somalis .

If authentic , the event suggests a strengthening of the relationship between hard-line factions of Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda . Though factions of the group have long been allied with al Qaeda and share its vision of global jihad , the video of the meeting would be a rare demonstration of such ties .

The so-called emissary told his Somali audience that al Qaeda felt their pain and urged Muslims to support Al-Shabaab , which is fighting Somalia 's government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law . He also recalled Osama bin Laden 's long interest in Somalia , saying he `` played a major role in repelling invading forces of the Muslim land in Somalia . ''

And Almuhajir promised that al Qaeda 's new leader , Zawahiri , would continue that support .

`` In a recent release , Sheikh Ayman brought the drought in Somalia to the attention of the Muslim Ummah -LRB- or global Muslim community -RRB- and encouraged them to support their brothers in Somalia , '' he said .

Western counter-terrorism analysts have been puzzling over the identity of `` the foreigner . '' Several Americans and Canadians are believed to have joined al Qaeda in Pakistan in recent years and risen through the group 's hierarchy . The most prominent has been Oregon-born Adam Gadahn , 33 , al Qaeda 's English-language spokesman who joined forces with the group around a decade ago . But counter-terrorism analysts say that Gadahn 's voice -LRB- and waistline -RRB- is very different from that of the mysterious al Qaeda envoy pictured in the Al-Shabaab video .

Another candidate is Adnan Shukrijumah , 36 , an American citizen born in Saudi Arabia who spent much of his youth in New York and South Florida , who joined al Qaeda around the time of 9/11 and rose up the ranks to become a planner for the group 's external operations . But the envoy appears to have fairer skin than Shukrijumah . And then there is Jude Kenan Mohammed , 22 , from Raleigh , North Carolina . He is believed to be still at large in Pakistan after leaving the United States in October 2008 to allegedly wage jihad . Just after he arrived , he was arrested by Pakistani officials , charged with weapons possession and released on bail . The following year , he failed to show up to his court hearing , suggesting he may have slipped into tribal areas .

It may be that the whole event was manufactured in an effort to bolster Al-Shabaab 's credentials after a series of military setbacks . Sending an al Qaeda envoy from Pakistan to Somalia -- especially a Caucasian -- would be risky . And there are more than a dozen North Americans -LRB- from both the U.S. and Canada -RRB- who have gravitated to Somalia to wage jihad in recent years , among them Abu Mansoor al-Amriki . The 27-year old from Alabama , whose real name is Omar Hammami , has produced Al-Shabaab hip-hop videos in an effort to extend the group 's appeal to English-speaking youths . Despite several unconfirmed reports that he had been killed , Hammami remains on the FBI 's most-wanted list . But his voice is not an obvious match to that of the mysterious al Qaeda envoy .

Al-Shabaab still controls most of central and southern Somalia , and has recently shown ambitions to take its campaign beyond Somalia 's borders . In July 2010 , the group carried out a pair of deadly bombings in Kampala , Uganda , killing more than 70 people . it was the first attack the group launched outside Somalia , and was in retaliation , Al-Shabaab claimed , for Uganda 's deployment of peace support forces in Somalia .

In September , the U.S. Africa Command warned that Al-Shabaab , Boko Haram in Nigeria and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were trying to synchronize their efforts to launch attacks on U.S and Western interests , but had yet to show a significant capability to export terror . There is also evidence , according to Western intelligence officials , of cooperation between Al-Shabaab and the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen .

But within Somalia , the group is under growing pressure . It has been pushed from its last redoubts in the capital , Mogadishu , even though it retains the ability to launch suicide bombings in the city . And in recent weeks , Kenya has accused Al-Shabaab of kidnapping Western tourists and aid workers in northern Kenya , allegations which the Somali group denies . Kenyan troops have launched a cross-border operation against Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia with the apparent intention of setting up a buffer zone across the border .

That 's prompted the threat of retaliatory strikes inside Kenya . `` The Kenyan public must understand that the impetuous decision by their troops to cross the border into Somalia will not be without severe repercussions , '' the group said in a news release in English on Monday .

Somalia analysts view this threat as real but believe Al-Shabaab will carefully weigh the costs and benefits of any such reprisal . The Somali group has an extensive presence in Nairobi -- home to a quarter-million Somali refugees -- and operates a network of safe houses in the city . `` They could easily tear apart Nairobi , but they 've done nothing there at all because they realize this is their golden egg , '' said Michael Taarnby , an Al-Shabaab expert at the University of Central Florida .

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Recording , images on Islamist websites purport to show fair-skinned man fluent in English

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Al-Shabaab militants say he 's from al Qaeda leader al Zawahiri , in Somalia to dispense aid

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Event suggests a strengthening of ties between Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda hard-liners

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But the identitiy of the man has n't been determined , and the event may be a ploy